By Zack Quaintance — Maybe this compromises me as a reviewer of the arts, but I just love Wasted Space so much. I think I can say that, given this is the 11th issue of a longer story, which means we’re talking not just about this chapter but all that has come before as well. Anyway, as I’ve written in the past, Wasted Space is one of the best series in comics because of its tone. It’s established itself as a story with a great deal of range. It can have its characters lay down long monologues about philosophy, politics, and the nature of societal structures...right before segueing into a hilarious multi-panel joke about blue penises. It’s just an incredibly versatile space opera, built with much fun and excitement by writer Michael Moreci, artist Hayden Sherman, and the rest of the Wasted Space team.

This week’s Wasted Space #11 marks the start of a new arc, the series’ third. And in our first act, we get one of the funniest bits of comic book storytelling I’ve seen all year, and, quite honestly, I’m not that big of a fan of funny comics. Or rather, I think doing humor in the comics format is a really inconsistent and elusive pursuit, one that has diminishing results (especially when done with superhero characters that talk directly to readers, but I digress…). What elevates the humor in this issue of Wasted Space is how organically it grows from the plot of the book. 

I don’t want to spoil anything here (never!), so I’ll just say that our characters have been through a lot of wild hi-jinx, and the structure of this issue makes light of that. Think Dan Harmon-style humor. Basically, this issue of Wasted Space has a sequence that’s up there with some of the high concept (and deeply absurd) meta situations from shows like Community or Rick and Morty (obnoxious, dipping sauce-loving fans aside). It’s great. I genuinely haven’t laughed out loud as heartily at a comic all year.

And that’s just the first act! The back half of this book goes on to a deeper place that sets up our next arc expertly. It’s also done in a way that simultaneously allows Moreci to drill down on the motivations and feelings of some of his characters, getting to honest places of deep interiority, which his a major challenge in this medium but always welcome when a creator can pull it off without bogging down the pace. That same sequence also gives artist Hayden Sherman a chance to do some of his most imaginative work on this title yet, work that wouldn’t have been possible without Jason Wordie’s stellar, psychedelic colors. 

It’s all just a treat to consume, and I for one couldn’t be happier that this book is back.

Overall: Wasted Space #11 is a treat of an issue, one that starts with big laughs out of the gate before giving us a sequence that announces, hey! The best space opera in comics is back. 10/10

Wasted Space #11
Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jason Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.